


Remnants

by poet_olskuv



Series: Don't Expect Me to Update These Regularly [13]
Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Acceptance, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, Alternate Universe - Twilight Fusion, Angst, Anxiety, Anxious Kim Taehyung | V, Artist Jeon Jungkook, Bad English, Character Death, Closeted Character, Closeted Kim Taehyung | V, Cullen Family - Freeform, Curiosity, Curious Kim Taehyung | V, Cute Kim Taehyung | V, Devotion, Dramatic Irony, Emotional Baggage, Empathy, England (Country), Esme Cullen is the Sweetest, Established Relationship, Everyone Loves Kim Taehyung | V, F/M, Family Feels, Female Kim Seokjin | Jin, Female Min Yoongi | Suga, Flashbacks, Friendly Edward Cullen, Friendship/Love, Grief/Mourning, Historical References, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Introspection, Jacob Black Does Not Exist, Joseon Dynasty, Kim Taehyung | V Doesn't Know English, Kim Taehyung | V Has Long Hair, Kim Taehyung | V is Whipped, Kim Taehyung | V is a Sweetheart, Korean Characters, Korean History, Long Hair, Lost Love, M/M, Male Homosexuality, Memories, Memory Loss, Misunderstandings, Modest Kim Taehyung | V, Music, Nostalgia, Not Really Character Death, Olympic Coven - Freeform, POV First Person, POV Multiple, Painting, Paranoid Kim Taehyung | V, Past Child Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pretending, Professor Jeon Jungkook, Recovered Memories, References to Depression, Relationship(s), Reneesme Cullen Does Not Exist, Reunions, Romantic Kim Taehyung | V, Romantic Soulmates, Sad, Scared Kim Taehyung | V, Secret Marriage, Secret Relationship, Secrets, Sentimental, Shy Kim Taehyung | V, Sneaking Around, Sweet Esme Cullen, Symbolism, Teaching English, Telepathy, Traditional Kim Taehyung | V, True Love, Vampire Jeon Jungkook, Vampire Jung Hoseok | J-Hope, Vampire Kim Namjoon | RM, Vampire Kim Seokjin | Jin, Vampire Kim Taehyung | V, Vampire Min Yoongi | Suga, Vampire Park Jimin (BTS), Vampires, Water, but don't worry they're all vampires, learning, vampire abilities
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:02:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23851264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poet_olskuv/pseuds/poet_olskuv
Summary: Taehyung had been alone ever since he could remember, his only other memories being ones of a specific person: the one he had loved during his human life. All he knows is this life of loneliness, longing, and movement.That is, until he comes across the werewolves of La Push.
Relationships: Alice Cullen/Jasper Hale, Carlisle Cullen/Esme Cullen, Edward Cullen/Bella Swan, Emmett Cullen/Rosalie Hale, Jeon Jungkook/Kim Taehyung | V, Jung Hoseok | J-Hope/Park Jimin, Kim Namjoon | RM/Kim Seokjin | Jin, Min Yoongi | Suga/Original Male Character(s)
Series: Don't Expect Me to Update These Regularly [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1511432
Comments: 10
Kudos: 21





	1. Kim Taehyung | La Push

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, my wonderful readers! I'm just here to tell you that it will be a while before the other BTS members properly show up in this fic. For a while, it's just V and the Cullens.

The water felt like familiar hands running over my body, making me feel safe. The way it curled around me was calming. It made my anxiety dissolve. My crippling loneliness was carried away by the waves, replaced by phantom promises and ghost-like fingertips. I welcomed it onto my skin, drawing it towards my un-beating heart because maybe then I’d feel the lips of the one I loved kissing down my chest once again.

It was in the water that I could finally let myself remember.

When I resurfaced, I scanned my surroundings. I’d ended up at a lonely beach. There was absolutely no one around, so I was able to walk freely. I could let myself lie in the sand, halfway submerged in saltwater. I could listen to the beating hearts of nearby animals and close my eyes. I could rest.

Physically, I didn’t need rest. My body had been indestructible and tireless for as long as I could remember, but my mind was a different story. My mind needed recalibration periods. I needed time to get lost in it, to fantasize about beautiful brown eyes and golden skin against shimmering blue. I needed time to remember when I had belonged somewhere, to some _one_.

I needed time to feel like more than just some bloodthirsty monster.

Once the sun had started to set, I got up. I was better able to run unnoticed in the dark, so I could get further into the woods in no time. Being in an open space for too long was dangerous—I’d nearly gotten killed before because I had wandered too far. Luckily, no one seemed to populate this area, so I could travel without attracting attention. I took off running in a random direction and let my legs take me wherever they desired.

It was only a matter of seconds before I met the wolves.


	2. Sam Uley | La Push

I would have killed the vampire if it hadn’t been for Emily.

Jared and Paul were beside me—in wolf form—and I had been about to shift when the vampire had burst through the bushes. Immediately, I could sense the difference in him. He smelled just as disgusting as any other vampire, but he wasn’t acting like one. The vampires that I had come across in my time had usually seemed arrogant and/or calm. This one looked lost, anxious.

He was a male. His skin was a little dark for a vampire, but it could have been due to his race. His eyes were big, and their shape made me almost certain that he was Asian. He had long, wet black hair tied into a man-bun, but the bangs that fell in front of his face made him look more feminine. (He looked a little like a woman.) Around his neck was a string connected to a flimsy piece of what looked to be wicker. His clothes were hardly hanging from his body. It seemed as though the dirt and moss that was dotted all over his body was all that kept his clothes on. Through the filth, I could deduce that the clothes were anything but American. They looked overwhelmingly oriental.

Everything inside of me was telling me to shift, but then Emily stepped forward.

I wasted no time in looping my arms around her waist and pulling her back.

“Are you crazy, Em? Don’t tell me you want to actively approach a _vampire_ ,” I said incredulously. It was almost a plea.

The vampire looked towards us properly at the sound of my voice. I was expecting him to be angered by my words, but he didn’t seem agitated in the slightest. He tilted his head like a domesticated dog, and his golden eyes went wide.

Golden eyes…Did the Cullens have a new member?

Emily extracted herself from my loose grip. “He won’t hurt the people…not with yellow eyes. _You_ taught me that.”

The vampire took a step closer, and Paul snarled. The sound made the stranger jump away, back colliding soundly with a tree. A loud _CRACK_ sounded throughout the area as the tree fell. He was strong, stronger than any of the Cullens that I knew of. Dr. Cullen had revealed to me before that vampires were stronger when they fed from humans, but that wouldn’t make any sense. His eyes were _fully_ yellow. He was fully fed, and all of that came from animals, not humans.

A sound left his lips, and it was absolute gibberish to me, but what really shocked me was how _low_ his voice was. He looked so dainty and feminine, but he had the deepest voice that I had ever come across.

It was then that he started studying us. He traced his eyes over each of our forms, and I knew that his impeccable, vampiric vision made it so he could see inside each of my pores, even from that distance. It made me uncomfortable. I felt like a science experiment under his intense, studious gaze.

Emily was begging me with her eyes, so I decided to talk with the male. If he proved himself to be dangerous or volatile, we’d terminate him immediately. I’d rip him to pieces before he could even hope to harm Emily.

“Hello,” I said, authority bleeding into my voice. “My name is Sam Uley, and I’m the Pack Alpha of our tribe. Your kind are forbidden to roam in our territory.”

His eyes locked with mine, and I could see nothing but utter confusion written across his face. It looked like nothing had been comprehended. He just stood there with a furrowed brow and gaping mouth. If he wasn’t a vampire, I’d maybe even find him _endearing_.

“What’s your name, cold one?” I tried again.

There was still no answer, nothing but a look of absolute obliviousness.

Emily leaned in towards me. “Sam, babe, I don’t think he speaks English.”

Well, that just made things even more complicated.

“Well, how do you suggest communicating with him, then?”

Emily smiled in that smug, mischievous way that drove me crazy. _She_ had to have been crazy because she took that as her cue to step _towards the unknown vampire_. I immediately pulled her back yet again. Either she had lost her last marble, or she was suicidal. After all of that trouble with the redheaded one, she had to know how dangerous these leeches were. Not to mention, this one’s clothing made him seem _extremely_ feral. Maybe he wouldn’t drink from humans, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t a threat.

“Em—”

“Just trust me, Sam,” she sighed. “When have I ever been wrong about someone?”

It was true that Emily had always been good at reading people, but approaching a beggar on the street and stepping towards an unknown vampire were two _very_ different things. This was dangerous. This male could have problems controlling his thirst—like that one Cullen, Jasper—or he could lash out due to lack of understanding. If he was in America but didn’t comprehend English, then there was a possibility that he was wild. The fact that he had been around long enough for all of that moss to accumulate on his body only fed into my apprehension.

But I must’ve been too whipped because I let Emily go regardless.

Every nerve in my body was on edge as my precious wife stepped closer to the unknown vampire. I’d sworn to protect her years ago, and I would always do everything in my power to keep her safe, but I trusted her. Emily was intelligent. She never went into a situation unprepared, and that fact brought a little comfort to me. Still, Paul and I were ready to pounce at any moment.

When she was standing only a foot away from him, she smiled comfortingly, pointing towards herself.

“Emily,” she said slowly, as if she was talking to a deaf person learning to read lips.

The vampire tilted his head again, so Emily repeated herself. It took a moment for him to understand, but then he fluttered his eyelashes and licked his lips.

“E…Em—il—y?”

His accent was so thick that it made Emily’s name sound weird. Still, it assured me that he probably wasn’t as wild as I had thought. He seemed to understand communication, and he knew how to talk, so maybe he was just from a different country. Maybe he had only just arrived in America. My guess was that he was from either Japan or China because of how his eyes looked.

Emily nodded reassuringly at him, a beautiful smile illuminating her face. His eyes widened. The way that he moved and the faces he made caused him to appear almost _innocent_ , but I knew better. No vampire was innocent, not even the Cullens. They were hellish and wicked by design.

The vampire pointed to himself after a second, his finger jabbing a patch of moss at his chest.

“Kim Taehyung.”

Emily hummed. “Kim?”

I almost snapped when his friendly expression morphed into one more agitated. He seemed offended, like Emily had done something disrespectful.

“Taehyung-ssi,” he seemed to _correct_.

I was lost to the meaning of his words, but Emily seemed to understand. Her face was bright with friendliness. “Taehyung-ssi.”

Taehyung’s scowl turned into a smile. It was a strange smile, though. His lips didn’t curve upwards. Instead, his eyes turned into crescents, and his mouth formed a rectangular shape, his teeth clenching together.

All I did was sigh. Could he get any weirder?

“I’m calling Dr. Cullen,” I decided aloud, pulling out my phone.

If anyone knew what to do with a rogue vampire, it was Carlisle Cullen.


	3. Bella Cullen | Cullen Residence

It had been a normal night until the phone call.

Alice, Emmett, Jasper, and I had been playing an intense game of Scattergories when Alice had her vision. All of us had been in a circle on the floor, but then Alice got that faraway look in her eyes. The lighthearted conversation immediately died, and Jasper reached over to pull his wife into his arms.

“Alice?”

Suddenly, footsteps rushed down the stairs until Edward was in the living room. He looked distressed. Something bad must have been about to happen. Were the Volturi coming? Had we done something wrong?

After only a few moments, Alice blinked back into the present.

“He’s so alone,” she mumbled.

Edward furrowed his brow, but Alice just continued. “He doesn’t even understand anyone.”

“Me and Esme can speak to him,” Edward reassured.

I finally gave into my curiosity. “Who?” I asked. “Who are you talking about? What’s going on?”

I could see that the others in the room were equally as curious as to what was going on. Alice was disoriented, though, and Edward couldn’t seem to concentrate. I reached out to grab his hand, but he didn’t even seem to notice, too lost in his head.

“Alice—”

“The phone.”

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, our landline started ringing. Carlisle answered it. He was in the kitchen, but we’d still be able to hear everything that transpired thanks to the enhanced senses. I still wasn’t used to them, but they sure came in handy during times such as this.

“Hello?”

“Dr. Cullen, this is Sam Uley from the reservation. We have a crisis.”

Carlisle hummed. “Ah, Mr. Uley, what a pleasure. What is this crisis you speak of?”

“A male vampire has entered our territory,” Sam informed. I couldn’t believe it. “He has yellow eyes. He seems to be passive, but we need you to meet us at the Boundary Line and escort him off of our land.”

I was entirely baffled. Another vegetarian vampire? They were so rare. The only ones that I could think of outside of our coven were the members of the Denali coven. To have a random vampire show up was strange enough, but it was even stranger to have a vegetarian one wander onto the reservation. Things like this just didn’t happen.

“Has he given you a name?”

“Kim Taehyung. That’s all the information we can get out of him, though. He doesn’t speak English. He looks pretty Asian. I’m guessing China.”

“Korea,” Alice and Edward corrected simultaneously. This was who Alice had seen? She’d seen this unknown vampire in a vision? Why was it distressing enough for Edward to look so worried?

Carlisle clicked his tongue once. “Well, my family members collectively know many languages, and if he doesn’t understand us, we still have Edward.”

A mix of anticipation and dread settled in my gut as I realized that we were about to go and meet this vampire. Something inside of me was saying that this was big. Our lives would forever be changed after tonight. I could feel it.

And it scared me beyond belief.


	4. Kim Taehyung | Boundary Line

The human—Emily—kept smiling at me, and the nice wolf-human—Seth—stood at my side. They had been nothing but kind to me so far, but the same could not be said about the other wolf-humans. They all made me anxious. My instincts were telling me to run away, and their aggressive comportments weren’t lessening that to any degree. They had hard glares set into their faces, and a few of them had tried to touch me earlier. Emily had stopped them, but I still felt sick at the thought of the first wolf-human touching my torso.

I couldn’t help but feel as if I had done something wrong, and I just wanted to go back to the water. In the water, it never mattered that I couldn’t understand anyone. Nothing mattered apart from the calm that it brought me, the way it felt. Nothing mattered except for the almost-silence that it brought me.

I just wanted nothing to matter. All that I wanted to do was close my eyes and feel that hand in mine, see that beautiful smile. I just wanted to pretend that it was real again. I wanted to let the waves wash over me and fool me into seeing my lover in my own reflection.

Soon, I saw eight figures approach. I was better able to see them as they got closer. There were four males and four females. Their skin was light like snow, and their movements were graceful. They were also incredibly aesthetically appealing in appearance. They smelled much better than the wolf-humans. Each of them smelled floral.

None of them smelled like lilies, though. None of them smelled like love.

When they stopped, the newcomers shared some incomprehensible dialogue with the people around me. I couldn’t understand it, and the feeling of danger within me grew. I wasn’t safe. I needed to find a way to get out of here and get back in the water. The water was the only place where I could be truly safe.

“We mean you know harm.”

I snapped my head towards the source of the voice. It was one of the males, the slim one with wispy bronze hair. I could understand him. It felt so surreal, but I could actually understand him. It had been so long since I’d understood someone’s words. The last time had been before I’d gone for the big swim, before the people around me had started to look different.

“My name is Edward,” the male introduced.

I frowned. Why were everyone’s names so strange? First Seth and Emily, and now _Edward_? Who came up with these ridiculous names?

“E-Ed-Edwaaarddeu?” I said tentatively. The name fell from my lips clumsily, as I wasn’t used to making those sounds.

Edward smiled a little. “Just call me Ed. It’s easier to say.”

I nodded, agreeing. “Ed. I’m…I’m Taehyung…Why—why do you make sense?”

I hoped that he would understand what I meant. It was hard to put my thoughts into words. I was out of practice, so my social skills were severely lacking. It had been so long since I had actually _spoken_ to someone, so I found it hard to articulate my questions.

“I’m speaking Korean, Taehyung,” he explained, as if I would understand what that meant. “Everyone else is speaking English.”

I furrowed my brow in confusion. “What? …Korean? English? What does that mean?”

Suddenly, one of the females—the one that seemed older and had almost amber-colored hair—spoke up.

“They’re different languages, sweetie,” she said. “People who come from different places speak different ways—in different languages. You come from a place that speaks this language, Korean. In this place, most people speak a different language called English.”

Her words helped me to finally understand. I was a bit relieved, actually. I’d assumed that all of the people I had come across had been a different species entirely. I was happy to finally find someone to understand me. It made me feel less lonely, even if I would never see Edward or the other one again, I felt soothed by the knowledge that there were people in the world that understood me.

“How would you like to come home with us, Taehyung?” the female asked.

I was baffled. Home? Our kind could have _homes_? I hadn’t had a home for as long as I could remember…I didn’t think that I ever would again, for my home wasn’t like the homes of humans. My home wasn’t a place; it was a person. My home was looking into big, brown eyes and feeling rough callouses grip at my bare hips. My home was in a tiny waist bracketed by my arms, surrounded by nothing but water and our love.

“Taehyung, we _do_ have a home, and yes, it’s filled with that kind of love but also other kinds…like brotherly and sisterly love…or the love of a parent.”

My eyes went wide. I was certain that I had not said any of that out loud. How could he have known that?

Edward smiled slightly. “I can read minds, Taehyung.”

No.

No, no, nonono…

He couldn’t—Had he seen? Could he see us? Could he see my memories? Was he in my head forever now?

I couldn’t let him see the memories. They weren’t safe. If he saw, he would hurt me. He would tarnish all of the love in my heart, all the devotion held for my spouse and our union. I couldn’t let him. I couldn’t let him see that beautiful face. If he found out, he would kill me. That couldn’t happen.

I looked around quickly, and my breathing sped up when I noticed that all of the people around me formed a circle. There was no escape. I was trapped. They were going o take me away. They were going to hurt me.

“Taehyung, calm down. It’s okay—”

One of the wolf-humans stepped closer, and I flinched, towards the other vampires. I couldn’t help but flinch away from them too. Edward stepped closer as well, and I felt like I was suffocating. I couldn’t go anywhere, and they were coming closer. They were coming to kill me.

I had to protect myself.

“No, Taehyung! We’re not going—”

The water was close enough, so I called to it. I needed it. I needed it to protect me.

I sunk to the ground as the water from the ocean gathered around me. I was encased in a dome of it now. I made it so that no one could get in before I burst into sobs. What was I supposed to do? I didn’t want to hurt them, but I couldn’t let them hurt me. I wasn’t safe, and I didn’t know how to make myself safe again. I just wanted Jungkook. I just wanted him to kiss me and tell me that everything was going to be okay, that he loved me.

I watched as the wolf-humans scurried away with Emily. I could get away now.

But what if the others were faster than me?

I let the water become slightly less stiff, slightly more forgiving. It was then that I felt an overwhelming wave of calmness overtake me. The strength of it caught me off guard, and I collapsed to the ground, my protective bubble bursting all around me.

I flinched away as hands grabbed at my biceps.

“Don’t touch me!”

I crawled backwards, away from the other vampires. Edward was crouching before me, as well as another male—one with honey blond hair and scars on his face. I couldn’t let them touch me. They were going to hurt me.

The calm was back, and it confused me. Why was I feeling calm? It made no sense.

Edward said something to the blond before the latter inched forward.

“He can read and control emotions,” Edward explained. “We wanted to calm you down.”

I gulped, looking back towards him. Was he going to hurt me? Would this new male make me feel _calm_ the entire time? Was I about to be killed?

“We are _not_ going to kill you,” Edward said firmly. “And I can only read your thoughts from the present moment, and only when I’m within a mile radius of you. Okay? When you were in that dome, I couldn’t even read your thoughts _at all_. And I _definitely_ will not hurt you. We don’t hurt people.”

My posture relaxed. He couldn’t read my thoughts within the water. It must’ve been strong enough to prevent him from getting in. I could just use that if I wanted to remember. He wouldn’t know then. I could be safe.

“You _are_ safe,” Edward assured me.

Maybe it was stupid, or maybe my emotions were being manipulated, but I trusted him.

Hopefully, I hadn’t made a mistake.


	5. Esme Cullen | Cullen Residence

Taehyung had outright refused to let any of the men of the household help him clean up, so I was the one to help him. I was the only one of the women that could understand him, and I didn’t have too loud of a personality, so it was ideal. Taehyung seemed fairly comfortable with me. Edward had even left, venturing far enough that he could no longer see into our minds. It was out of respect for Taehyung, and I could see that he appreciated it.

I had to admit that I’d had no idea how to get his clothes off. He helped me with that part, though, and I gently brushed the moss from his chest once his shirt was off. He flinched a little, but he became more and more relaxed as he spent more time around me.

I was baffled as I took his hair down. The ebony strands were soft and long. There were a few tufts that were longer at his back, and his thick bangs framed his face in a way that made him look astoundingly beautiful. He was one of the most beautiful creatures that I had ever seen in my life. He may have been even more beautiful than Rosalie.

Taehyung’s anxiety started to ebb away as the time stretched on. He started to shyly smile at me, and when he giggled at the feeling of the water on his skin, my heart absolutely _melted_. There was no discussion. Taehyung was staying with us. He was too precious for me to ever let go of. I just wanted to wrap him up in blankets and cuddle him until he was nothing _but_ soft smiles and giggles. He was so incredibly pure and _good_ …an _angel_.

“Edward said you have a wife?” I asked curiously as I helped him wash his hair. I hoped that I hadn’t stepped over the line.

His smile fell, but he still seemed relatively calm. “…yeah, I had a…a _wife_.”

“Had?”

“It was in my human life,” he answered. “She has to be dead by now.”

“Oh, honey,” I cooed sadly, rubbing over his scalp soothingly. I couldn’t imagine losing Carlisle. It would _kill_ me. “I’m so sorry.”

He shook his head and licked his lips, looking toward the tile of the shower as if he was actually looking _through_ it. “I…she was so beautiful…the water reminds me of her.”

I could almost feel my frozen heart legitimately _shatter_. Taehyung was such a sweetheart, and yet he held so much pain. He’d lost his wife. As a vampire, losing a mate was perhaps the worst pain one could experience. When Edward had left Bella behind, he had been inconsolable, and yet Taehyung was there, acting normal, for better or for worse. He was so strong, perhaps the strongest person that I had ever come across.

I kept the conversation to a minimum as I taught Taehyung how to wash himself. It seemed to relax him, and I was glad. He was so anxious, and he just needed to calm down a bit.

It was only as I brought the loofa further downward, that his relaxation dissipated.

I only managed to brush the loofa once between the cheeks of his butt before he backed himself into the wall. The tile shattered in his wake, and he looked at me as if I was a monster coming to eat him. I was confused for only a few moments.

Taehyung only trusted women. He wouldn’t let any man grasp at him, and he hadn’t wanted any of the men to see him naked. Just the brush of a loofa against his anus had reduced him to a panicked mess yet again.

Had Taehyung been sexually assaulted?

I could remember Rosalie acting somewhat similar to how Taehyung was behaving now when she had first joined us. She’d been raped before she had been left for dead, and before Emmett, she had always been on edge. She hadn’t let Carlisle or Edward touch her, and she had almost latched onto me. She was astoundingly better now, but that was with the support of her husband. Taehyung’s wife was dead. He wouldn’t be able to get that kind of support.

But he would get the family’s support.

I would do anything that I could to protect him.


	6. Bella Cullen | Cullen Residence

I was surprised by how quickly Taehyung had attached himself to Esme. At the current moment, he had his head in her lap. His eyes were closed in relaxation, and Esme was running a soothing hand through his long hair. He looked so different from the panicked man that we had seen at the Boundary Line. Now, he was swathed in silky pajamas and nestled into the coven’s matriarch. He looked so soft and vulnerable like that. Maybe it was the contrast between how he had been before and how he was now. Maybe it was the untouchable beauty that he possessed. I didn’t know.

“Did you talk to him at all?” Edward asked softly, almost as if Taehyung was sleeping. It seemed simultaneously ridiculous and necessary.

Esme nodded. “A little. I asked about his wife. He said that they were married in his human life, so she’s dead…I can see that he still really loves her, though.”

“Yeah,” Jasper agreed. “It’s strange, but every emotion he has is sort of steeped in love. It’s like he’s always thinking about her.”

I frowned. I felt bad for Taehyung. He had obviously been through a lot, and he had been so alone for what was probably a very long time. That coupled with the loss of a spouse probably felt like a knife to the heart every second of every day. I couldn’t even imagine how it felt, and frankly, I didn’t want to.

“His whole fit of panic back there was because he didn’t want me to see her or his memories of her in his mind,” Edward said. “He’s very protective of them.”

“I’d be very protective of my memories too if they were the last things I had of Emmett,” Rosalie said.

Esme pushed a bit of Taehyung’s hair behind his ear, and he fluttered his eyes open. They closed again once he’d said something that made Esme smile. I didn’t know Korean, so I had no idea what he said.

“I think he was raped,” Esme said abruptly.

Carlisle immediately snapped to attention, placing a hand on his wife’s shoulder. “What makes you think that?”

The woman sighed. “You’ve seen how he reacts to men. He won’t let any of you touch him, and he thought that Edward and Jasper were going to hurt him back at the Boundary Line. He didn’t want any of the men to see him naked, and when I was washing him, I brushed over his butt, and he broke the wall and nearly had a panic attack…I just…I don’t know what else to think.”

The room was silent as everyone processed the information. I hated to admit that the explanation made sense. It was still surprising to me to consider that a _man_ had been raped, but I immediately shamed myself for the shock. Men could be raped too. It wasn’t just women who were sexually assaulted.

Edward cleared his throat. “That…That may be the case…He doesn’t seem to have any human memories that aren’t of his wife, though…I think all of it is just instinctual at this point, like some sort of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.”

“I think we need to just be with him for whatever he needs,” Carlisle said, ever the compassionate father.

“So, I’m taking it we have a new brother?”

Esme and Carlisle smiled slightly at Emmett’s question.

“Yes, Emmett. If Taehyung wants to stay, then he’ll be welcomed into the family.”

Emmett’s loud cheer was enough to startle Taehyung out of Esme’s hold. Esme scolded the bigger man before softly beckoning Taehyung back up to the couch.

This was bound to be quite the adventure.


	7. Kim Taehyung | Cullen Residence

Alice and Esme had designed my room for me. I had what was called a “waterbed,” and it was delightfully squishy. The walls were bright blue like the ocean, and there were some pieces of furniture that were very new to me. The bookshelf was intriguing—there were multiple shelves in a box as opposed to a single shelf on the wall. There was also something called a computer in the corner, on the low table there. There was a soft cushion in front of it that I could sit on, and I appreciated it. I didn’t really like chairs.

There was also a small container in the corner. Jasper had called it a “jacuzzi” when he’d taught me how to use it. It filled with water when desired, and I greatly appreciated it.

That was where I was sitting now. I had the water around me, tough enough that I couldn’t hear anything outside of it. That was how I knew that it was strong enough to block Edward and Jasper.

It was only then that I thought about Jungkook.

I couldn’t remember anything else about my human life, only him. All that I could remember was his name, his beautiful physical appearance, and how he made me feel. There were spotty, random memories as well, but I couldn’t always understand them. I didn’t need to, though. I just had to remember his laugh, the way his skin had been just a touch lighter than mine. If I remembered him, I could keep going. I could survive.

I’d decided to stay with the Cullens. They were kind, and I was startled to find out that I already loved Esme. It couldn’t even touch how I felt about Jungkook, but I loved her. I loved her in a way that was platonic and unfamiliar. After only knowing the love that I had for Jungkook, it was hard for me to fathom other kinds, but this must’ve been what Edward had been talking about, the familial kind of love.

No matter how much I grew to love them, though, they could never find out about Jungkook.

It was surprisingly easy to use feminine pronouns when speaking vaguely about Jungkook, and I was glad. The Cullens couldn’t find out that I loved a man in the way that I loved Jungkook. They would hurt me...they would _kill_ me. I didn’t know how I knew that; I just did. I just knew that men who loved men were harmed when people found out about them. I knew it like I knew my own name.

I was glad that I had the water to protect my memories, though.

Jungkook used to tell me that I made the water magic, and that became objectively true once I had become a vampire. I could control any liquid substance. Over the years, I had toyed with my gift. I could not only summon liquid and control it in its movement but also change its very properties. I could change its smell, its taste—almost _anything_ about it. I could make it impenetrable like now, and I had never been more grateful for that.

I could see Esme entering my room, knocking on the ajar door, so I hopped out of the jacuzzi and placed the water inside of it, making sure not to get wet, myself. I had to roll up my sleeve to pull the drain.

“I see that you’re enjoying the jacuzzi?” Esme said cheerfully.

I smiled at her. “Yeah...it’s nice.”

She reached out and brushed a piece of hair behind my ear. I smiled more. I hadn’t known it before, but I loved physical affection. I felt so overwhelmingly loved when Esme did things like that. I loved it when she played with my hair and rubbed my arms. I loved lying in her lap.

Jasper had picked up on my enjoyment of touch. It seemed like him and Alice were trying to warm up to me in that way. Alice was incredibly petite, so it was a little difficult for her to hold  _me_ , but I found that holding _her_ felt nice as well. Jasper didn’t mind, so I let myself wrap an arm around Alice as we sat on the couch together. (I was learning English and semi-fluent now, but I still couldn’t always understand her. It didn’t matter, though. I could see that she was starting to love me like I loved Esme, and it was nice. I was slowly starting to love her too.) Jasper tried as well, but it was a slower process with him. He was delightfully tall, so I knew that cuddling with him would feel nice, but he was a man. Still, I’d worked up to being able to lie with my head in his lap. He just couldn’t reach out and touch me, especially not on my waist. Only Jungkook could freely touch places like that.

All in all, in the month that I had spent with the Cullens, I’d grown fond of them, of this new brand of life that they had given me. I had a family now. I had a _home_.

And maybe that home wasn’t as good as the one I had had with Jungkook, but it was still a _home_.

Esme hummed. “Are you ready for the day, angel?”

“Angel” had been the first English word that I had learned. Esme had started calling me it, and a few other members of the family had picked it up as well, mainly Carlisle. Apparently they did something similar with Rosalie and the nickname “kitty.” Regardless, I loved it. The entire family had taken to shortening my name to Tae a lot merely because it was easier to say, but something about being called angel made me feel so cherished.

“Yeah, I’m ready,” I answered. I had my hair up in its usual bun and was wearing clothes that Alice had deemed to be good enough to wear outside, so I figured that that was Esme meant. (The clothes were a lot different than my hanbok and a little formfitting, but they were alright.)

We were going shopping. I knew enough English and knew how to act unfazed by all of the crazy, new inventions of the modern day, so it had been deemed time to get me my own wardrobe. Alice, Rosalie, and Esme were coming with me. I didn’t know how to feel, but I supposed that it would help me blend in.

That was a good thing. If I was to be in their family, I had to blend in.

Just another reason that no one could find out about Jungkook.


End file.
